It’s been a busy 12 months for Riot’s new Forge publishing arm, geared toward increasing its League of Legends Runeterra universe in video games past the favored MOBA. In April, we obtained The Mageseeker, a hi-bit brawler set within the austere kingdom of Demacia, and in June, we obtained Convergence, a conventional Metroidvania set within the seedy depths of town of Zaun. To complete out the 12 months, the corporate has now printed Music of Nunu, a story motion recreation developed by Tequila Works, which beforehand developed RiME again within the early days of the Swap library. We’re happy to report that Music of Nunu is one more robust addition to the Runeterra universe, expertly combining a gripping narrative with satisfying gameplay.
Music of Nunu is ready within the Freljord, a harsh, frigid, mountainous area within the north of Runeterra, and follows the adventures of an brisk younger boy named Nunu and his affable yeti good friend, Willump. Nunu’s mom has gone lacking since his camp was attacked by raiders and he retains having desires the place she tells him to search out “The Coronary heart of the Blue” on the Winged Mountain. Aided by Willump’s power, Nunu units out on a quest to succeed in the mountain, the place he expects to search out some solutions about what occurred to his mom and hopes to be reunited along with her. All of the whereas, nevertheless, the 2 are unknowingly pursued by a harmful ice witch named Lissandra, who needs to make use of Willump’s distinctive powers to assist her battle again towards a shadowy pressure that threatens the entire Freljord.
It is a highly effective story, one which’s buoyed by the healthful and loving relationship between Nunu and Willump. It’s clear proper from the start how a lot the 2 adore one another, and Nunu is consistently making feedback and asking questions as the 2 wrestle to make their approach to the mountain—Willump can’t truly speak, however Nunu can perceive his language of grunts and roars simply high quality. And although a lot of their time is spent participating in impromptu snowball fights and dancing to Nunu’s music, there’s a sure bitterness to go together with the sweetness; Nunu is clearly nonetheless processing his trauma from the assault, and Willump is cagey concerning the tragic story that explains why he’s the final yeti left within the Freljord.
These of you who aren’t followers of League of Legends will likely be happy to know that this can be a totally self-contained story the place newcomers can establish with Nunu and Willump’s travels simply in addition to longtime followers of the MOBA. That stated, followers of the franchise will nonetheless recognize the looks of different Freljord champions reminiscent of Lissandra and Braum, who add some good texture to the narrative with out stealing the highlight away from the starring duo.
Gameplay follows a linear, narrative-driven construction that mixes platforming, fight, and puzzle-solving collectively in a tightly-paced journey that hardly ever has any downtime or filler. You’ll frequently move management between both Nunu or Willump, who each depend on the opposite’s strengths to endure the challenges of the Freljord. Nunu has a magical flute he can use to govern some objects or enemies within the atmosphere and he can throw snowballs to activate switches, whereas Willump can scale icy partitions, create frozen platforms in water, and battle off harmful foes, reminiscent of packs of wolves. We appreciated how a lot their distinctive skillsets complement one another right here—you play as every of them equally and the puzzle design manages to play to each their strengths with out feeling overly pressured.
Followers of old-school Zelda will really feel proper at dwelling with the environmental puzzles right here, that are satisfying to resolve with out being too straightforward. Whether or not you’re lining up lasers to unlock a hidden door or making an attempt to determine clear a path for Willump to hold one thing throughout a spot, it seems like these puzzles do an excellent job of highlighting the teamwork the 2 have constructed up collectively. Extra importantly, new concepts are being launched very often, which provides every part its personal identification and retains Music of Nunu from feeling prefer it will get too stale.
Fight is sparingly interspersed among the many puzzle sections, and whereas it isn’t the spotlight of the expertise, it does an honest job of breaking apart the gameplay loop by including one thing new. Willump has gentle and heavy assaults along with a primary dodge, whereas Nunu hides out on his head and may throw snowballs that freeze some enemies. When you empty an enemy’s well being, you may activate a flashy finisher transfer that can even restore a little bit little bit of any well being Willump is lacking. It’s clear that fight isn’t the main focus right here, and the enemy selection is a little bit low, however we appreciated how the occasional battle mixes issues up with out overstaying its welcome.
Nunu and Willump’s journey to the mountain is essentially linear, however there are often some hidden aspect paths that lead you to collectibles. Once in a while, you’ll come throughout an lovely misplaced Poro in want of a snack, a mural that expands on the lore of the Freljord area, or a wind chime that teaches Nunu a brand new music. None of those are required for development of the narrative, and there aren’t that many unlockables to search out throughout the entire recreation, however they add simply sufficient additional incentive to encourage you to maintain your eyes peeled for something that appears sketchy.
When it comes to presentation, Music of Nunu makes use of an artwork model that seems like a combination of Rime and one thing like World of Warcraft or Darksiders. The stylized visuals are an excellent match for the widely lighthearted tone, and whether or not you’re looking the ruins of an deserted fortress or the lava-filled caverns of Ornn’s lair, there’s loads of selection within the locales past simply extra snowy mountainscapes. We have been particularly impressed by the standard of the character fashions, which really feel right here like they’re extra superior than you’d anticipate for a Swap port of a multiplatform recreation.
Whereas the visuals are definitely spectacular, they do include a gentle efficiency tax. Although Music of Nunu targets 30 FPS, we famous many situations the place the sport was clearly loading the subsequent space and the body charge tanked to about 20 FPS. And although it largely sticks to the body charge goal outdoors these hundreds, there are nonetheless nonetheless some moments the place we seen issues getting a little bit extra sluggish. Total, efficiency isn’t horrible, however there are simply sufficient hitches right here for the drops to be considerably noticeable.
Conclusion
Music of Nunu is one more welcome boost to Riot Forge’s rising lineup of video games based mostly in Runeterra. The heartwarming relationship between Nunu and Willump carries this compelling narrative, whereas the linear gameplay alongside the way in which is well-paced and interesting. Although efficiency could possibly be higher and fight is a little bit simplistic, that is an all-around nice recreation that we will simply advocate to any followers of old-school Zelda or somebody searching for a high-quality, narrative-focused recreation that’s on the quick aspect.
